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Common Sense Media says

Users say

It's a OK

Hello!
Let me put this to you straight and simple. Skyrim is about exploration and fantasy. I bought this game because my 15 year old wanted it for his birthday. When he put it in his system I decided to watch him play. The game was fantastic! I have never seen anything like it before. However at the time my 13 year old also wanted to play it. I told him he would have to let me see the game played longer by my 15 year old. I have to say after watching my son play the game I told my other son to come in. I told him it would be okay to play because of the fact that Skyrim is such a big game that I seriously doubt that my 13 year old will get to see every bit of the game. The sexual content is at a minimum, The blood is similar to the Halo games, and the drinking thing is just silly. Thank you for reading this review and I hope it helped :) Peace

First user review not written by either a troll or a younger teen.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to tell you about Skyrim, what it is, what it is about, and the different themes associated with it.
Skyrim is the next installment of Bethesda Softwork's award-winning Role Playing Game series, The Elder Scrolls. It is a game in which a person takes control of a character of their own design (anything from brave Nordic warrior to Cat-Person.) One traverses the open world of Skyrim in search of fame and glory through combat, trade, errands, and diplomacy. I feel that "pause for 13" is a worthy rating for this game, as while many 13 year-olds can certainly handle many of the game's mature themes, it is not always a given.
Let us look through the stuff here, shall we?
Educational:
Believe it or not dear reader, this game can actually teach a player a good deal about conserving money and bartering, as in the game the character can make many decisions about what to buy, where, and for what reason. This is helped as different stores and vendors offer things at different prices. The player's vocabulary of fantastical words will also be increased, as they will learn words like "tome" or "necromancy". Not that they are particularly useful words or anything.
Role models: The main role-model in the game, is actually the player themselves. They can decide to, ultimately, if they want to smash in the head of an innocent civilian or not. As most games, combat against other blood-thirsty warriors and great beasts is required to play and win the game, but it is up to the player if they want to be a paragon of righteousness and help the weak, or be a really, really big jerk.
Violence: The game almost revolves around violence, but not as much as a game like Call of Duty. The player can choose several different methods of battle to defeat a foe, everything from giant-axe brutality to spewing a torrent of fire out of their hands. As could be expected, the goal of all methods is to kill one's opponent, but magic I have seen is notably less bloody than melee combat. Players can expect to see corpses, skeletons, and mutilated bodies throughout the course of the entire game.
Sexual themes: Minimal but still present. The occasional bit of innuendo here, some cleavage. Characters can appear with most clothing off, this being men in loincloth and girls in their undies.
Language: Not as bad as most games. No F-bombs or swearing in "the name," as it takes place in another world entirely. The "D" word and the "B" word are common place however. Basically any swear that can sound alright said in medieval times.
Themes: It can get pretty strong in this game. Many a time will the player be forced into hard, morally difficult or confusing situations. There is, if the player decides to peruse some schools of magic, a good deal of summoning, the collection of the souls of enemies, and other dark ideas in general.
Addictive factor: Skyrim is an incredible game. It is almost endlessly immersive, and can hold a person's attention for months, literally. There is so much to do and see in the game that there are some people who have played a single character for hundreds of hours in the previous game, Oblivion, just to enjoy all that there is to offer. It goes without saying that Skyrim has even more content, and can utterly consume the life of the player if they have nothing else to do. Be sure your child is not overly-imaginative in the way that they would blur fantasy and reality together, as this is one of those games.
Overall: Skyrim is an excellent game for anyone who can take the mature themes and still enjoy them, along with playing it in moderation. If not, it could lead to an escapist attitude toward life in general, as the player would much rather play Skyrim than enjoy the charms of reality. Be sure to know your child if you allow them to play it.

Moral Decisions: Scary, but Important

Among the games of today Skyrim is the rarest kind of jewel. It is an experience that should be had by anyone who loves video games, and the story-line, moral choices, character development, atmosphere, and sheer gorgeous beauty of the world you are exploring make this game one of the best I have ever played. As a hard core gamer all of my life, I look at this game as a once-in-a-decade occurance. It is unique, it is individual (a very rare thing in games that are becoming increasingly fixated on only the multiplayer experience) and it is beautiful.
But that's not the point. I am a young adult, after all, and this game, as a M Rated game, is targeted towards me and middle to older teens. Is this game appropriate for children? In some ways possibly more so than most M rated games. In other ways, it is not so much inappropriate as perhaps over younger children's heads.
This game is a very difficult game. It has difficulty settings, of course, but the complexity of the world and the problems the character is presented with, the sheer vastness of an entire land to explore and dozens of quests to fullfill, make this game a likely bewildering experience to many children younger than 12, and only if those twelve year olds are experienced or fairly experienced gamers. There is a way of thinking that goes along with experience with games, and they will need critical thinking skills, trial and error, patience, and technical skill to be successful at this game. While it is extremely rewarding to wander into the wilderness of Skyrim, weak and practically defenseless and without knowing anything about the world you are entering, I entered that world as an experienced and confident gamer, and suspect that the experience would be overwhelming to younger children who do not have much experience with video games. There are just so many things to do, become, try.
Which brings us to the moral choices dilemma. It is true that in Skyrim, you can choose to become anything from the noblest man or woman to ever walk to earth, to the lowest, cruelest, piece of scum. There are many levels of gradation, unlike many games in which the good/evil moral choice aspect is presented in a way that makes you either totally good or absolutely bad. For example, you could choose to save a man from a bandit's onslaught, and yet pickpocket random people on the street. You can donate your money to homeless beggars, and then join an assassin group and kill for money. There are many moral choices in this game. To many to count. And that is why I think, in the end, this game is better than a game in which you are forced to play by default, a completely good hero or a mean antihero (as in the Grand Theft Auto games).
The kind of moral choices in Skyrim can seem scary. After all, what if your child chooses to play as the worst kind of character, a merciless killer, who would kill innocent men and women on the street to rob them of their money? First of all, the fighting in this game is far less violent than most games now days. There is a little spurt of blood, and then the body falls, completely intact (unless it is beheaded, and even then, the animation is nothing that most 12 year olds haven't seen worse of in movies or on TV). Some people I know play the game in this way and find in enjoyable. But many other people find an excersize in morality, as they try to become a genuinly good person and make decisions that will benefit those around them. It means more to be a hero in Skyrim, because you can choose not to. IT means more to choose not to lie, to choose to help someone who needs it, to choose to make a character who embodies some aspect of how you would hope to live. But at the end of the game, the character is just a character and the world is just a world. RPG's can teach us things about ourselves, and Skyrim is one such obsticle course through which we can practice steering our morality.
So this is my recommendation:seriously question whether this game is appropriate for your child if they are under 13 and not an experienced gamer. However, if the kid is 16 and older, this game might just end up being their favorite game ever.

not bad

this is an amazing game with not much violence, all it is is a hit then spray of obviously fake blood. There is no sex, only the occasional talk about it, and even that's hard to find. there is nothing remotely wrong with this game, and anyone over 12 should be allowed to play it

Relax its fine for kids

This game is kinda violent but this is not realistic like call of duty. In call of duty you are killing other humans, while in skyrim you are mostly killing other creature but not with guns and all that. This game is fine for kids.

Future Game of the Year

One of the best games you can find around. Where you can cast exploding fireball spells, to creating your very one sword for profit. Now for the appropriateness. Now the game came out today (11/11/11) so don't expect 100% accuracy. ESRB was reasonable about the gore rating. People get sentance to death via beheading. On of the one handed perks even gives a %30 percent chance of decafatation. I haven't notice much sex talk, yet. And you can consume alcohol, such as wine. One thing is for certain, they made their own illegal drug called "Skooma" which CS somehow failed to mention in Skyrim and Oblivion. You can even find Skooma dealers on the roads and buy the stuff from them. Or you can walk away. I one time found a skooma dealer that talked about how good skooma was. I said "This doesn't sound legal." Then she tried to kill me so she fell victim to my mighty axe! It does have slow motion animation killings sometimes. For example one time when I was facing a wolf, I picked it up and slammed my axe on it. The dragons and giants can be brutal though. There is video of a dragon biting an archer, swinging him around, then chucked him across the field. The giants just stomp on you and slam their clubs. But they are pretty terrifying. Not ghost story terrifying, they can like kill you in one shot of their club so yea, they're pretty powerful. The funny part about them is that there is a very common glitch where when a giant kills you, you go flying a mile into the sky. You also get to choose whether you fight te defend the people, or be a serial killer. Though if you choose evil, you get a bounty on you meaning that the guards will want to see in prison. Also, if your bounty is high enough, they wont even give you the opportunity to surrender, they'll just attack you on sight. In other words, this game is amazing!
EDIT: If you choose evil, there are ways to avoid bounties. You only get a bounty if you are caught by someone else committing crimes. You can monitor wether or not you are being watched when in sneak mode because it has a little eye thing that tells you if you are hidden, at risk of detection, or detected. I even took advantage of that and robbed a meat stand in brood daylight when a guard was just a couple yards away and avoid a bounty by only robbing when I was hidden. I have found some sex talk. It was woman upset over her husband thinking he was sleeping with some other woman. There is racism. The Stormcloakcs, (rebels who want independence from the empire,) only want Nords in Skyrim, and the citizens in Windhelm hate anyone who is not a Nord, primarily Dark Elves and Argonians (lizard people.) There is torture. I got a quest to spy on the Thalmor, (A group of elves that for some reason hate the worship of a god known as Talos,) they were hitting a man with a mace to get information. Just be happy I busted that guy out. Their are guilds you can join. The Companions, legendary mercenaries, College of Winterhold, good guys that teach magic, but are disrespected, Thieves Guild, a group of thieves, and Dark Brotherhood, hired assassins. There is also a political conflict with wether or not Skyrim should go independent. Stormcloaks, rebels who want independence, they are angry at the empire for banning the worship of Talos, and believe that the Nordic way of life is in danger, but are racist and only want Nords in Skyrim. The Imperial Army wants Skyrim to still be part of the empire, they'll let anyone be in Skyrim and want to uphold the peoples safety, but conflicts with the Nordic way of life and were forced to ban the worship of Talos, thanks to the Thalmor. You get to choose witch side you want to take. There is even achievements for completing their quest lines. Hopefully this edit helps you to decide even more.

13+

WARNING! This game is not bad at all!
Okay, for this game, you may say "Oh, I won't let my kid play that, just because it is rated M!"
Well, you're wrong.
This game, in itself, is not bad. The only thing that will actually be bad for a child is violence. If your child has played any Battlefield or Call of Duty game (rated t versions, Like Bad Company or World at War), they will not blink at this game. I will give the ESRB some slack. They have to take in to account everything that can harm children. Ever had your kid watch Lord of the Rings? Well, in the game, there is a drinking contest playable. The sex? Girls wear shirts, and somebody mentions it a few times. The Violence and Gore? Unless your kid is queasy, they will not even be affected by this. The gore level is very low. The blood? Not a big deal. I am a parent that is very over protective, I will admit it. Before this, my child has only played rated T games. In all honesty, this is heis first taste. He is thirteen. I have been very against blood and killing, because I think that it will affectmy kid's morality. He may think that killing is not a bi deal, or any thing that is bad. But this game, it FROWNS upon killing. Yes, that is right. It punishes you for killing. Your character can be arrested or killed in punishment, and it will affect the happiness of people around you. People that are in the game can stop trusting you as well. This game is so dense, it will blow you away. I bought it, and I played it a week before I let my son try. He loved it. If you have a mature 13 year old of an immature 15 year old, they can handle it, even if they are looked upon as your little baby. Buy it. They'll love it. I am saying this from a strict parent stand point. I would never let my kid play if I had not sampled it, but compared to madern war games, The blood level is low. MW3? GORY!!! Ask your kid if they have played those. If they have, this game will be perfect for them. If they want it, then get it. It is a great game, and it is acceptable for teens. This site frowns upon anything. Both Batman games and the entire Uncharted series are listed at 16. I would let my 8 year old boy play them. He loves super heroes, and he likes the Uncharted games. BUY IT! IT IS VERY ACCEPTABLE!!!

Good for 12+

Skyrim is a giant first-person action-RPG that's all about choice. I think it does even send a fairly positive message because if you steal and murder people will hate you and throw you in jail. However if you are a good person you are rewarded. Most people seem to be concerned about violence. The violence is not too bad, but its more than you would see in something rated T. In some towns, even at the start of the game, people do get sentenced to death and decapitated, which COULD be a little disturbing to younger kids, but i think the average 12 year old would be ok with it. As far as blood goes, it's very minimal, similar to the Halo games. Blood will go on your sword when you slice people.
You are free to drink wine and beer as you please, but you get a disadvantage, your vision is blurry and your speech is slurred.

I don't know why it even says sexual themes on the box.

I have always been a less strict mom when it comes to the popular games that all the kids have. Yes, i know what you are thinking: (it is rated M, and it has sexual themes. Is it okay for my kids?) Well the answer is, yes and no. I have a 17 year old, a 14 year old, and an 11 year old, all boys. My 14 year old is on the less-mature side, but still mature. Apparently all his friends have skyrim, and he was about to get it. When i looked at the box, it said sexual themes. I was hesitating, but i said yes, becuase the freaks at ESRB always put any little thing they see on the box, even if it is only shown once. Now the only sexual theme i saw through the whole game was when a female character asked a male character to "look at my sexy face baby". I completed the whole game, and that was all. Just saying, DONT JUDGE THE GAME BY ITS RATINGS. Get it, it is the best game ever, and dont make your kid sad even if all his friends have it.

Amazing game! Not for ages 14 or below.

I am 17 years old, and I have been playing skyrim for about a year now. It is by far one of my favorite games, and perhaps Bethesda's greatest work yet. It has tons of quests and story lines that change your game completely, your every action affecting your outcomes. That being said, I do not find it appropriate for children or even young teens. While some gameplay can be safe for a younger audience to watch, there are many quests that can warp a child or young teen. You may not see this in the beginning of the game, or even in the first 10 or so hours. Draugrs, for example, may frighten children under 12. They are like walking mummies in the movies, only more graphic. Dark brotherhood quests can be extremely disturbing, and could honestly bother some 15 or 16 year olds. It is rather violent, given the fact that you can kill just about anyone in the game, and there are many you must kill. The game may seem okay when for younger gamers when you're just above ground, killing wolves, but when you start exploring tombs, keeps, and other complex quests, there is too much content that is not at all appropriate. There are entire quests centered on necromancy, or raising the dead, for example. These types of quests make up the entire game, so please consider that. Also, there is torture in the game. The dark brotherhood has their very own torture chamber, complete with torture victims. I believe there are other quests with torture, but I have not gotten to those yet, as there are hundreds of quests. The language is very mild, but there is some. That is up to the decision of the parents on how appropriate the language is. There is some drinking, but no more than what is seen in real life. Each town has a drunk or two. There is a drug, skooma, which your character can become addicted to. It is sold by khajiits, taken from bandits, prisoners, ect. Skooma is also illegal in skyrim, so it represents real drugs. There are a couple of references to bondage and some scantily clad women, but there is not too much obvious sexual content. There is one mission in riften where the dragonborn must find a woman's married sexual partners and confront her about them. In the quest, you can find a note labeled "until next time" vaguely and laughably describing one of her encounters. You can also find a book by her bedside called "the lusty argonian maid" which is sarcastic and most children would not understand it. I do not find this game at all suitable for children 14 and under. If your child is under 11, I would not suggest allowing them to see you, or their older siblings, playing this game. Ages of 15 and 16 are arguable, and parents should carefully decide whether their child is mature enough for it at those ages. Also, if your teen has a violent nature, you may want to bring that into consideration. It is rated M for a good reason, and while it may seem innocent at first, there are far too many things that can be seen in the hundreds of hours of gameplay that are not for kids. However, for older teens, given they are mature, it can help to increase decision making skills. Many of the events are references to actual historical events and people. It may help to bring a better understanding of history and society. Be careful if your teen is easily immersed, because even I find myself wanting to press a button to collect a flower or mushroom, or holding up my "magic" if I get startled. It is very easy to get lost in skyrim, feeling like it is reality. Overall Skyrim is an amazing game, but please wait until your child is 15 before even considering it for them. Again, some content in skyrim is fine, but there are a lot of quests that would be terrible for a child to stumble upon. If you aren't willing to go through at least 50 hours of gameplay to figure this out, please do not ignore the rating system and reviews of people who have played much of the game. And do not listen to reviews of kids who should not even been playing this game. Most of them haven't played enough to know all of the content.

Good for 13 and up

The one problem I had with this game is the minor sexual content. Although it is pretty hard to see this you can talk to certain people who will refrence it. But this game is not really designed for you to walk around and talk to every one, it is designed for ou to go exploring and discorvering. This game is a RPG which is a game that gives the player choice. You can if you want to steal or murder but just like in real life you will if you get caught be thrown into jail. But on the good side you can do equally good things such as save a person in need, help a mother find her daughter/son and you will be rewarded for doing those things. The violence is another issue because when ever you are fighting a creature blood wth spray out of its body and onto the floor. you can use a variety of different weapons in order to finish your opponent. Such as swords, arrows, daggers, and magic. The game also features dragons that will appear at random and attack you. These battles can be epic in scope and onece you defeat the dragon you are rewarded with a new spell that the dragon had. All around this is a great game and I recommned it for any one 13 and up.

The TRUTH

There havent been many good reviews on this but im going to tell the truth.
The game itself...
Educational value - 3/5! Like most RPG games this inspires children to save their money, learn how to sell in the market and auction.You choose how you play. You must decide what the best path to take is and there is a lot of research to be done on your class your race and your talent tree. Much like well known RPG based games like 'World of Warcaft'.
Positive messages - 2/5! None apart from what I have just said!
Postive role models - 1/5! This game doesnt have many but it has a few noble knights who would offer their life to defend their town. Apart from that there aren't many.
Ease of play - 3/5! The controls are straight forward but if you want to seriously get into the game you will need to do some research online.
Now time for the decider if you want your child to play this...
Violence - When you hit enemies sometimes blood spurts out. There is no torture at all. People talk of executions, there is 1 but all you see is a person being captured and told he will be executed. He does not beg, scream, shout or cry when he hears this. Nothing much with the violence.
Sex/Sexual references - Nothing much. There are festivals and feasts where half naked women dance but kids below the age of 9 see this on TV.
Language - None.
Drinking, drugs, smoking - There are Skyrim drugs called Skooma which you see around the place. There is drinking but kids will see this all the time.
Over all - If you have a child who is mature and over the age of 10 then this is fine!
It is a brilliant game too.

11+

Lets look at the negative reviews one by one shall we?
Violence: YOu can hit peop-le with swords and axes and etcetera, but there is very little blood, and its nothing you cant find on a tv 14 show
Sex: Only references, nothing too bad, only the occasional talk of a whore, or a person in bed, stuff that can be found on tv PG tv shows
Language: None
Alcohol: Drinking is involved, but it is not glamourized by any means, and it is nothing a kid won't see at a bar in a restaraunt
Overall, great game, good for 11+

Do you really want your kids to do that?

I cannot understand how people can find Skyrim o.k. for kids. What?! I love Skyrim, but
- on the road, you get constantly attacked by regular people without any apparent reason. You can not ask why the do it, you cannot negotiate. A world of uncompromising hostility. That's not how I want my kids to see the world.
- you cannot show mercy. Often attackers will fall to their knees and plead for mercy. If you stop fighting, they will recover health and attack you again, so better kill them outright. Showing mercy is suicidal. Is that really the message you want to give to your kids?
- the game will order you to do horrible things. It is up to you as the player to say "no, I'm not doing it". Do your kids really have the maturity for that? Do you really want your kids to do a quest where the player has to bring a victim to cave where it can be butchered for a cannibalistic feast? And do you really expect your kids to have the decisiveness to say "no, I'm not doing it" and then deactivate the quest marker?
Compared to that, all this concern about a little sex and drugs references are just ridiculous. For me the game is not for under 16. But that’s just my view as an European, I am aware Americans have a different take on violence and brutality.

Ok for 13 and up.

This is a very fun game. It is very entertaining and can also be educational. In this game you have the freedom to make choices. Know your kid. If you have a mature responsible kids over the age of 12 it should be fine. There is nothing I wouldn't trust my 12 year old with. There is violence and very small amounts of sexual content. But it is very rare and is very mild. Nothing kids this age can't handle.

this game is totally overrated and appropriate to anyone 11 and above

This game is not at all violent the only blood or gore that you get is when you are fighting but it disappears very quickly, if I were the manager of this game it would only be like an 11+ issue. And there is very very mild sexual content. And the kind of sexual content you do here is just about marrying and leading a happy life with your life partner.

Not for people squeamish of inspired by violence.

My parents let me buy this game because it wasn't about going around mutilating peoples limbs and splattering their brains out. The acronym RPG stands for role-playing game. In these types of games the creators focus on character customizability and gameplay. Not giving the player as much ammunition as possible ant telling them to blast everybody's heads off. Skyrim provides the player with moral choices, open sandbox environment, and easy to learn controls. An example of the moral choices is you could kill everyone in a village and watch them suffer, OR you could help the villagers get rid of their problems. I think the sexual themes thing is a joke, yes you can get married and there is some dialect in the game that may be suggestive. But really it's not that big of a deal. If your child is inspired by violence or very very VERY squeamish than this is not for them.

Overreacting

This may seem like a game to keep your kids away from, especially as it is rated M. However this is one of those cases where the rating agents are just messing up. The violence is obviously an integral part of the game, but really it is neither realistic nor even slightly frightening.As the player can completely define their own character they can be as positive or as negative as they want. The alcohol and sexual content in skyrim make people completely overreact. The worst word appearing in the game is probably ***hole, which really every 8 year old probably knows. There is alcohol such as mead, however drinking it does not intoxicate the player, it is considered the same as water. I seriously doubt that any 10 year old would associate alcohol negatively, and if they do them playing skyrim shouldn't be what you're worried about.

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